An illuminating view of the world as seen through the tinted lens of Hollywood’s most important chronicler of entertainment news and show business. Variety is not only a fascinating look at the history of entertainment as reported by the world’s most highly regarded commentator of show business news, it is also a history of American popular culture and a record of the influence and confluence of art, life, and Hollywood. Illustrated with hundreds of front pages, its articles chronicle everything from Debbie Reynolds’s opinions of 1960s youth to how Steven Spielberg and Jaws transformed the movie business. With new and archival photographs spanning Variety’s more-than-century-old archives, the book includes exclusive essays by a host of well-regarded artists about what Variety means to them, how Variety has impacted the entertainment industry, and what they felt like the first time they saw their names in Variety’s pages. Variety is a decade-by-decade documentation of such pivotal moments as the audience’s move from vaudeville houses to movie theaters, censorship, how Lucy and Desi changed the face of television, Walter Cronkite’s shaping of America’s view of the Vietnam War, the birth of the summer blockbuster, the game-changing technology of Jurassic Park and Avatar, and how the movies, television, and theater reflect society’s ever-changing social values and mores. The perfect gift for anyone who loves Hollywood, Variety is also a never-before-available look at the premier source of entertainment reporting.
"Showbiz makes up a huge portion of what has become our pop culture and daily lives, and reviewing the last century via the images and articles reproduced from Variety's pages, with lots of commentary, compiled here by decade, is fascinating." ~ModernTonic.com
"...not only a fascinating look at the history of entertainment as reported by the world's most highly regarded commentator of show business news, it is also a history of American popular culture and a record of the influence and confluence of art, life, and Hollywood. Illustrated with hundreds of front pages, its articles chronicle everything from Debbie Reynolds's opinions of 1960s youth to how Steven Spielberg and Jaws transformed the movie business." ~Paolo Alto Weekly
"This delectable volume will enchant anyone with even a passing interest in motion-picture history" ~The Sunday Star
"..this is my favorite history book and my favorite book about media that was published in 2012. And by “media” I mean everything: it’s about radio, TV, movies, print journalism, home video, you name it. The mix of terrific vintage photos and ads with expertly curated primary source texts (letters, obituaries) is highly addictive–and in fact if you actually teach media or pop culture you’ll find lesson ideas on nearly every page." ~Peter Gutierrez, School Library Journal
"Yes, Variety is a publication that holds up a mirror to Hollywood. But this book proves that it’s also a living history of just how much Hollywood has come to reflect us all." ~Metrosource
